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Utah English, sometimes referred to as '''"Utahnics"''', is a Dialect of the English Language spoken in the U.S. state of Utah .

Distinctions of this dialect include:
  • The merger of and to before , making pairs like the following Homophonous :

  • --- bowl / bull

  • --- foal / full

  • --- foley / fully

  • --- Folsom / fulsome

  • --- poll, pole / pull

  • --- polar / puller

  • Diphthong ization of : "egg" and "leg" pronounced "ayg" and "layg", "leisure" and "pleasure" pronounced "layzhur" and "playzhur."

  • in some cases, "ar" and "or" are reversed: "I was barn in a born" (I was born in a barn).

  • introduction of a "T" into certain words: "teacher" pronounced "teat-chur."

  • shortening of some words from several syllables to one or two: "coral" as "crall", "probably" to "probly" or "prolly."

  • Merger of /Ar/ and /Or/ by some speakers so that ''far'' and ''for'', ''card'' and ''cord'' etc. are homonyms.

  • the use of "fer" in certain expressions, such as "fer cute", meaning "cute" or "fer ignernt": "stupid."

  • due to the influence of the Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints , unique euphemisms: "oh my heck" and "gol."

  • introduction of a "T" between the sounds "L" and "S": "Nelsen" and "Wilson" are pronounced "Neltson" and "Wiltson", respectively.

  • the final "T" is frequently voiced as a Glottal Stop : "cute" becomes "cuʔ" and "late" becomes "laʔ". Non-native speakers often have trouble distinguishing between the local pronunciation of words like "can" and "can't".



References

  • Rainey, Virginia, (2004) ''Insiders' Guide: Salt Lake City (4th ed.)'', The Globe Pequot Press, ISBN 0-7627-2836-1

  • Article about "Utahnics"